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Wolverines!

10-09-2008, 02:47 PM

But what's most unsettling about Red Dawn today is... the movie's historical parallels have been turned upside down. In 1984, the Soviets of Red Dawn represented, well, the Soviets, and the Wolverines represented both the Americans and also the plucky Afghan mujahideen then defeating the Red Army in a guerilla war. But on re-viewing, Red Dawn isn't a stark reminder of Cold War fears. Rather, it's a pretty good movie about Iraq, with the United States in the role of the Soviets and the insurgents in the role of the Wolverines. In Red Dawn, the Soviets have invaded a country whose customs they know not—one of the only funny moments in the film is the Commies' inability to understand the Wolverines' connection to high-school football. They ham-handedly toss leading citizens into hellish prisons. They maltreat the civilian population...

...

The insurgents are at first merely scared, angry kids, but they're hardened by the viciousness of the Soviets. Seeing nothing to lose, they become suicidal terrorists who assassinate, bomb civilian targets, gleefully murder wounded and captive Russians, and eventually martyr themselves in theatrical, insane ways. Howell faces down a helicopter gunship with nothing but a rifle, screaming, "Wolverines," as its machine gun cuts him to confetti; Swayze and Sheen make their inexplicable suicide assault on a base with hundreds of soldiers and heavy weapons; Jennifer Grey, mortally wounded and afraid of being tortured by the occupiers, booby-traps her own body so when a Soviet soldier touches her, it sets off a grenade that kills both of them.

...

Red Dawn is not an exact parallel to our situation, of course. The Iraq we invaded was no functioning democracy; our Army does not execute civilians; many Iraqis favor the American occupation. But Red Dawn certainly didn't stir the mad, patriotic fervor I felt when I heard Howell shout, "Wolverines" 24 years ago. MGM is so far tight-lipped about the plot of its Red Dawn remake, but I wonder: Will the new Wolverines be us—or fighting us?

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Bring On Project Reality 1.0!!!RSS Feeds:Bamboo | | 9/11 - Never Forget |Apophis - "TG was created to cater to a VERY specific type of gamer rather than trying to appeal to the greater gaming population.
Tactical Gamer is not mainstream.
We are not trying to attract mainstream gamers."

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I LOVED that movie. I lived a good chunk of middle school with cans of soup, my bb gun, my "survivor knife" (fish hooks, matches, etc in handle), and other assorted stuff stashed in the woods behind our house... practiced setting snares for squirrels... you know, just in case.

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I wish they wouldn't make a remake, there have been too many remakes as of late, i think hollywood has run out of ideas.

morgan, please PM me on why you think america is so "bad." I'd like to hear your side.

Who the hell said American is bad? It's the truth, they are remaking the movie, like it or not. They are bringing the story into modern times around modern political themes. What modern political theme has you concerned about us being invaded?? I dont know how old you were, and while admittedly I certainly wasn't looking to the sky daily for russian paratroopers, they were at least a somewhat credible threat to our borders. Exactly what country do you think poses a credible threat to our borders today?

Let me give you a piece of advice, do you know the difference between good guys and bad guys in any conflict or disagreement? The winners write the histories so their cause is made out to be "good and just", and the bad guys are made out to be "evil and bad". If you want to start a political discussion over remaking a movie, we can do that, but know before you do that "good" and "evil" are things that history decides, and the histories aren't written until the conflict is ended. Only morons like some of our elected officials and some of the people who vote for them forget the good and evil tally is typically best suited for history books, and not current debates.

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Who the hell said American is bad? It's the truth, they are remaking the movie, like it or not. They are bringing the story into modern times around modern political themes. What modern political theme has you concerned about us being invaded?? I dont know how old you were, and while admittedly I certainly wasn't looking to the sky daily for russian paratroopers, they were at least a somewhat credible threat to our borders. Exactly what country do you think poses a credible threat to our borders today?

Let me give you a piece of advice, do you know the difference between good guys and bad guys in any conflict or disagreement? The winners write the histories so their cause is made out to be "good and just", and the bad guys are made out to be "evil and bad". If you want to start a political discussion over remaking a movie, we can do that, but know before you do that "good" and "evil" are things that history decides, and the histories aren't written until the conflict is ended. Only morons like some of our elected officials and some of the people who vote for them forget the good and evil tally is typically best suited for history books, and not current debates.

the thing is the movie was made during the cold war..........thats all.........we are no longer in the cold war, it would be cool if it in fact still had the russian's invading, like the rts world in conflict did.........

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Bring On Project Reality 1.0!!!RSS Feeds:Bamboo | | 9/11 - Never Forget |Apophis - "TG was created to cater to a VERY specific type of gamer rather than trying to appeal to the greater gaming population.
Tactical Gamer is not mainstream.
We are not trying to attract mainstream gamers."

Comment

Yeah so a 'modernized' version of a cold war movie that would be like trying to remake Saving Private Ryan into a ballet. It is going to be a tough sell in my mind.

~ Draken

Exactly, wait till you get a load of top gun remade with Nut-job Cruise playing the role previously played by Tom Skerrit and his wife playing his old role. Or a remake of karate kid with Will Smith directing and producing and his family playing most of the important parts, there is a winner for sure....

Edit: currently no plans for an updated top gun, which translates to nobody had given a good script yet.

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The story doesn't really fit modern day, does it? Well... Maybe they'll go with a coalition of south American nations instead of Russia. It's not really credible, but it's the only thing I can really think of. I do recall that one of the main Soviet characters was actually a South American revolutionary who admired what the kids were doing and saw a lot of parallels to his own life spent fighting oppressive governments.